Tuesday, 1 September 2015

As the nation draws near to the 100-day benchmark of the
President Muhammadu Buhari administration, a legal luminary, Dr. Kayode Ajulo
has described the president’s performance so far as “being fraught with ominous
signs that Nigerians would do hell to pay attention to.

Ajulo, who is National Secretary of the Labour Party and
also the founder and Eexcutive Director of the Egalitarian Mission, a
non-governmental organization that seeks to address socioeconomic inequalities
across the nation, stated while addressing journalists today, that contrary to
his pledge to work to deepen democratic principles and foster the unity of the
nation, the president’s recent moves were indicative of a person who esteemed
ethno-tribal sentiments as having pride of place over nationalistic ideals.

“The president is setting dangerous precedents by his ethnic
slants on the recent appointments made, and he should be called to order.
Though some argue that he hasn’t made up to a quarter of federal appointments
yet, my people here in Ondo say that “the eye which would stand the test of
time would not exude pus or mucus early in the day”. It is also a common saying
here in Ondo that “it is from Friday that we know how Saturday and Sunday would
be”.The ethnioc slant in the
appointments so far is just too obvious, and we cannot afford to just ignore
these ominous signs,” Ajulo said.

Ajulo debunked insinuations that people were just crying
“wolf” in order to distract President Buhari from the business of governance,
insisting that the citizens had a constitutional right to question and critique
the government of the day, and whatever decisions they may take.

“These insinuations are actually ridiculous; I wonder what
the praise singers of the president expect. Do they want Nigerians to fold
their hands in resignation, or join them in cheering the president as he tows
the dangerous path of sectionalism and nepotism? Do they expect Nigerians to
play blind, deaf and dumb? It is actually an insult to the sensibilities of
Nigerians to insist that they sit and keep mute while the president continues
to treat the nation like an occupied territory.

“Granted Nigerians demanded change, and voted in the
candidate of their choice. Does that mean the struggle for a greater Nigeria is
over, or that we have arrived at our destination? There are many questions to
be asked and Nigerians should not be deprived of their right to ask questions,”
he insisted.

Commenting on the fact that the President Buhari-led
Administration would mark 100 days in office in a matter of days, the legal
luminary said that it “would be opportune time for Nigerians to reflect on
their electoral choices, and to evaluate what it has brought them so far”.

“As the administration would soon mark 100 days in office,
Nigerians should ask questions about their achievement. Nigerians should take
that campaign pamphlet “My Covenant with Nigerians” and “100 Things Buhari
Would Do in 100 Days” and interrogate the administration viz-a-viz the promises
contained in the documents, it is uncharitable, breach of social contract and
utter deceit and conspiracy against Nigerians for Buhari to deny the knowledge
of these campaign promises.

“The president is reputed to be a man of integrity. Let him
come forward and tell Nigerians how well he had done on delivering on his
campaign promises. We would like to see if the nation is moving forward,
stagnating or even retrogressing. This is not a matter of baseless criticisms;
there are available benchmarks to judge him by. For me, my desire is to see him
succeed as this would translate to a better life for my countrymen. It is
nothing personal and it is all about the progress of our nation but people are
free to interprete our work as they see fit,” he said.

Expressing fears that the president’s actions would deepen
the divisions created by past leaders, he warned that these actions would not
augur well for the nation.

“We are raising alarm and warning because history is a
teacher, and if we do not learn its lessons well, we are doomed to repeat the
mistakes made in the past. We should stop to consider what led to the 1966 war,
and what led to the coups we have witnessed in the past. I am continually
haunted by the coup d’etat speech given by General Joseph Danjuma in 1984. What
led to it?

“Right now, even chieftains within the APC are cringing at
the brazen actions of President Buhari. They may not be speaking out but I can
tell you some of them have spoken in confidence, and they are not happy with
his stance on some of these issues. The actions could have huge implications
because even now, it is fostering a culture of distrust and disunity,” he said.

Ajulo called on the general public to stay vigilant and
rigorously examine the decisions and policies being enacted by the
administration.

“It is our constitutional right to demand good governance
and we will not relent. We call on all lovers of equity to continue to do their
bit, and play their role in ensuring that President Buhari succeeds. Eternal
vigilance, they say, is the price of liberty, so all hands must be on deck to
ensure thatthe government does not
renege on the promises made while it was wooing the nation for support and for
votes,” he said.